The Tn antigen is a tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen. Expression of the Tn antigen is nearly always monitored using Tn-binding antibodies and lectins and several are commercially available. We chemically synthesized the Tn antigen along with a panel of carbohydrate epitopes that are naturally expressed in humans. The carbohydrate epitopes are used to to evaluate the specificity of commercially available antibodies and lectins to determine if they can distingiush between the Tn antigen and structurally-related carbohydrate epitopes and to determine which receptor has the best selectivity.